For much of the first half Monday night against the St. Louis Rams the New York Giants offense was stuck in neutral. An interception to kill a drive by Eli Manning, a series of three-and-outs. When they got the ball at their own 14-yard line with just under three minutes to go in the first half the Giants led, 14-6, but most of that was due to the Rams' ineptitude, not the Giants' brilliance.
Seven plays later, Domenik Hixon's incredible 22-yard touchdown catch changed that. It also pretty much changed a game the Rams had largely controlled despite being behind, allowing the Giants to spend the second half running the football and pressuring St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford.
"It felt awesome," Hixon said of the score. "It’s something that we have been working on all week. Coach (Kevin) Gilbride (the offensive coordinator) and I went into a lot more detail and he felt it would be a really good play against them. We went out and Eli threw a good ball and we executed. I saw the ball the whole time and it never works out the way you practice. It ended being on the back shoulder and I just reached back and tried to make a play on it."
Manning acknowledged the quality of the play by Hixon, who also reinjured his surgically repaired left knee on the play. The severity of the injury is not known as of now.
"Great reception and great concentration by him," Manning said. "We had a in and pump route on and the safety bit on the in, but we hit him a little bit on the end. Those are throws that you don’t make all the time but it was a great catch by him. It was great concentration and a great catch at that moment."
Domenik Hixon juggling catch (via atcjzero)